It's NOT Turkey Day!
Or, at least, it wasn't in our house!
My brother-in-law, this wife and our friends Chris and his wife spent Thanksgiving with us yesterday and we had a very fun afternoon/evening stuffing ourselves silly, chatting and playing games. My brother-in-law, Max and his wife Katie (yes, we had 2 Chris/Kris' and a Kate/Katie combo) are getting ready this morning, so I thought I would sneak in a food post!
Sweet potatoes with caramlized apple bits on top (they didn't really carmelize that well) from Martha Stewart (links to recipe).
Kate's amazing stuffing that I'm now worshipping her for. Stuffing, to me, is the essential element of Thanksgiving and this was some very exceptional stuffing.
A garbanzo/mushroom/walnut loaf wrapped in puff pastry. The recipe was from Michelle. It was a lovely loaf that was very impressive and so easy, I whipped together the filling the night before and just had to stuff and bake them the next day.
Focaccia bread, trying to keep warm in the bread basket.
Chickpea gravy and Katie's incredible cranberry sauce. In the distance you can see the top of the banana peanut butter cake. The gravy was great as always (thank you Isa!) and Katie's cranberry sauce was the perfect mixture of fragrant, tart, sweet and spiced. 
A pan holding dozens and dozens of cooked pierogi. Yum! It's always nice to have the memory of my grandma around when I can, in action. Normally this would be a Christmas treat, but it was nice to shake things up a bit. Aren't I a loose cannon, this is how I live on the wild side, forgoing mashed potatoes for pierogi. Whoo-hoo!
I didn't get pictures of dessert! We had the banana peanut butter cake I've posted about before as well as a Sweet Pea Bakery pumpkin pie, with vanilla ice cream and some Soyatoo Whipped Cream on top.
I hope you all had a lovely holiday and ate lots of goodies! I look forward to blog hopping and seeing what you are up to this weekend. While I have issues with the foundation of Thanksgiving really just being a Hallmark attempt at glossing over decades of cultural genocide, I also like to just make it my own thing because it's not going to go away and if we can turn it into something significant and meaningful now, then that's a step. And I figure when we have kids, I'll set them straight anyhow. As for me, in my book, today marks the first day of the Christmas season and I'm ready to decorate and be joyful, darnit!
21 comments:
Invite me next year :-) Alas, I'm on the wrong coast.
I've never caramelized apples, but the ones I've seen are thin slices, not chunks, like for a pie, only thinner. I suspect this lets them cook better.
This brings me to the topic of potato salad, and why the potatoes should be in thin slices, not big chunks, because the big chunks always have no dressing taste in the middle.
Kris, this all looks WONDERFUL!!! I knew you were working hard, but wow, such presentation. The pierogi's look great (they're seriously not baked?). I really wish I was there *too*.
OH, Kripsy!! How I miss your cooking!!! All I could think about was your Garlic Mashers with my marinated tofu!!! Yay!! First day of the Holiday season!!
What a beautiful feast! Your pierogies look so delicious. I would totally sub those for mashed potatoes any time. Great idea for the loaf wrapped in puff pastry. It's so festive looking. And please do see if you could get Kate to share her amazing stuffing. I really would like a superb recipe I can always count on. :)
ooo! It all looks totally fab! good job!
Amber
Looks good Kris!
I was kinda hoping I could shake things up a but more this thanksgiving at my folks' house and maybe do potatos au gratin (instead of mashed), but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
I did invent something (well, I like to think I invented it): sweet potato baklava. Filo dough, chopped toasted pecans, and VwaV sweet potato pie filling. Yummmmmm (yes, with m's on the 'yum').
Oh yum yum yum!
It all looks so delicious and amazing... Sigh! I'm feeling so hungry, looking at it! The pierogis look outrageous! I've never even had one, but your picture looks amazing. I agree with vivacious vegan about sharing that stuffing recipe... I was never big on stuffing, so I'm not so picky. My mom always makes us a little batch of vegan stuffing, but it's basically just the stuff that goes in the turkey warmed in the oven - pretty dry and just so-so. And this year, I overheard some of my family members mentioning that vegans couldn't have good stuffing. ACK! That's so unacceptable!! One of my big missions is for people to see that veganism is not a state of denial or substandard living! So, I need a primo-quality stuffing recipe before christmas.
Hoorah for holiday season
:) Amey
yummers!
the whole mean looks splendid. glad your day was so good. and i want to eat some of your pierogi.... those look so good.
we did the tempeh meatloaf from RFD - yowza. it's a keeper. too bad we are already almost done with the leftovers. :)
Nice work, Kris! An excellent feast, and I agree, the pierogis look delish! Oh, and the loaf too!
I'll have to keep visiting you to get myself into the holiday spirit. If it weren't shoved at me immediately after Halloween, it would be a lot easier.
You asked about millet. Use it just like rice, but to truly enjoy it, toast it first.
looks like you have a super day! looks so good your food i can almost smell it :)
What a gorgeous spread! YUM! Great job! So glad you had a great day.
Holy moly! you could feed like all of lithuania or another small European country with that all that food! :) It all looks delicious! I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes Martha... she may not be the most vegan friendly person out there but I've picked up a few tricks from her here and there...
Plus it's kinda funny when she starts talking about alcohol... I always get a kick out of it...It's like she's hiding that she's a raging alcoholic! LOL
what a great looking wonderful feast!! I love pierogie's! I would eat those everyday if i could with lots of caramelized onions.
JENNA
OK-- here's the stuffing.
It is a little bit play-it-by-ear and never exactly the same every time I make it. It was a little moister than usual this time. But I advise making your self a test run before an event so you know how you want to adjust it.
Enough to make in a 4 quart casserole
Ingredients--
-broth (packaged or homemade, 32 oz more than does it—how much you actually need depends on how dry your bread is and how moist you want your stuffing)
-onions
-celery
-carrots
-bread (I use a mix of regular white and sour dough)
-fresh sage, rosemary, & thyme
-Soy Garden (or your usual margarine)
-black pepper
-dry parsley flakes
First you chop the onions, celery, carrots. I didn't put exact amounts-- I like a lot of veggies in my stuffing so I used 2 onions probably 70% of a bunch of celery from the store, and one carrot (I don't like too much carrot).
Then saute the veggies in a lot of Soy Garden margarine (how much depends on how much you need to get the job done plus how ever much you want to add to make the stuffing more rich-- I probably used like a quarter cup).
Chop up the fresh herbs and add them and the pepper to the pan with the veggies when the onions and celery are soft and translucent and remove from heat. I used about a whole grocery store bundle of sage, 80% of a bundle rosemary, and about a few tablespoons of thyme once I got it off the sprigs. I think using dried thyme would be fine. I think using dried rosemary would be slightly less acceptable but wouldn't kill the dish. However, I think using dried sage would be unforgivable.
Chop up the bread. I don't toast it because I am lazy and I have found it doesn't make that much difference. I tend to throw the bread into the casserole dish as I am chopping it so I know when I have enough. It won't take up as much space when you mix it with the other ingredients, so load up that casserole to the top.
You can begin mixing the bread and other ingredients in the casserole, in the skillet you sauted the veggies in, or in a big separate bowl-- I have done it all of these ways. I think this week I dumped part of the bread in the skillet and mixed and then dumped it back in the casserole with the rest of the bread to finish. Mixing it requires getting the herbs and veggies well incorporated with the bread while introducing broth a little at a time to get it as moist as you want it. Eventually this means mushing it with your hands. When most of the individual chunks of bread loose their integrity, you're about there.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes covered, then 10 minute more uncovered. Brown it off under the broiler for a couple minutes.
I don't mention salt in the ingredients because packaged broth it pretty salty and Soy Garden has salt too. However, if you like salty stuff or if you used a less salty broth, taste it before you put it in the oven, and if it isn't salty enough, add some.
Also, it will only be as good as the broth you use. I think there are plenty of packed broths that basically taste good, but also plenty that don't.
Thank you so much for sharing your stuffing recipe Kate! I'm gonna show those omnis that vegans can have their stuffing and eat it too!
:) Amey
When I did eat meat, the stuffing was my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal, so thanks to Kate for posting that recipe & to Kris for the photo. YUMMERS! I love perogies and haven't had them for quite a long time. Hmmmm, maybe this week. Great idea! Everything you posted looks delicious. I like that you had pb cake instead of pumpkin pie. I've never been a fan and quite often have to skip dessert if we're at friends for dinner. My mom would always make an apple pie for me and that's usually what I have if I'm hosting. PB cake would be MUCH better!
Ooh, what a wonderful dinner. Everything looks so fabulous. It's great that you had so many people there contributing and sharing everything!
Wow, that all looks so great. I love that cake in the background!! :P The pierogies are a great idea!
Ohh, I'm so glad the stuffing recipe was posted!! Thank you so much!!
"Stuffing, to me, is the essential element of Thanksgiving" You said it, sister!
:) Mikaela
super delicious looking thanksgiving feast! & you are a "wild & nutty" squirrel for making pierogi's instead of mashed potatoes! LOVE the food & your philosophy on the holiday! :o)
i'm learning more and more vegans aren't vegan.
this looks highly quetionable.
i hope they're reading the labels and studying the terminology.
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